Conservation

[chesters1]

I love the chirp of sparrows despite their dowdy appearence ,they remind me of fond memories as a kid on a hot sunny days in london .When we moved here there were none but i heard one up the far end of the road and year on year they crept down and now they feed at our bird feeder .

Another memory bird are skylarks ,they remind me of gentler times at Seton Sands where my gran and other relatives had chalets (one had a railway carriage!) and i spent all day adventuring and with my sister scouring the dunes looking for pop bottles to get the 3d back.The skylarks lived in the fields around ,theres a couple i hear here one in the field behind and another in the field opposite the school

Not sure "conservation" in some cases is that great it appears all the new red kites that are increasing around here have scared off the buzzards that used to be seen in numbers ,generally humans in their effort to appear to be concerned in wildlife bugger it up .

I used to speak to Phone if actually feeding birds is bad ,nature works by killing off the weak so the strong survive .We maybe killing them off by keeping the weak alive ,sounds great but come spring theres a finite amount of living food about so with more artificialy survived birds about taking them perhaps theres not enough to feed all the chicks these extra birds produce and the ones from the stronger birds that would produce them naturally? so in our desperation to save more perhaps we end up with less?

I have stopped feeding whole sunflower seeds i spotted a tit stuffing whole ones down a chicks throat last year not sure trying to digest something that shouldnt be around that time of year is a good thing besides its hard exteria and pointy end.

Edited March 3 by chesters1

[Norm B]

Reference buzzards. Yesterday I was watching the newts in my pond when I was disturbed by some seagulls getting agitated overhead. Looking up I saw a pair of buzzards circling and being mobbed by about half a dozen gulls. While watching I saw a red kite come for a look at what was causing all the noise.  The buzzards just drifted away and the kite followed them. Nice to see it's still around, I just wonder if it nests in our area as there are some good trees nearby. Some good news on the newt front. Due to the recent warm and sunny weather, the newts are spending more time in the warmer top water and are spawning well. Well, the pond weed is later this year so I've had to "improvise" with some dried reeds which I grow in and by the pond. I've broken some of the longer stems off and laid them on the surface and there was some spawn in the leaves when I checked this morning. When I went for a look this evening with a torch I was pleasantly surprised to see I've gained a female GCN, so I now have 3. She must have hatched 3 years ago before the cat/pond disaster and lived on land around the pond under the log or leaf pile. She is slightly smaller than the other two so it must be her 1st year of spawning. She should help the gene pool a bit. Just need some frog and toad spawn to complete the amphibian family. I was told of some frog spawn that had been put in a ditch but when I looked for it there was nothing to see, fox or ducks probably had a feast. Well, I'll end on a high note for a change.

Some more good news. My wife came out to see the newts by torchlight after her night out at the cinema with my sister and niece and we spotted yet another female GCN, this one was a younger one, probably 3 years old and her first spawning, this now makes the numbers up to 4 females so all good so far. I'd not seen her in the pond before so she may have been hibernating under the log or leaf pile and the recent sun has awoken her.

I had a young GCN given to me by a neighbour today, her cat brought it in, unharmed, it was last years hatch so I suppose with all the rain it had traveled far from my pond but it went in without a problem, too young to tell what sex it is. The next problem is Daphna to feed them when they hatch as most of my "green water" that I breed them in has been seriously diluted with all the rain so it will be an "expensive year" again.   Look on the bright side Norman, the pond is looking healthy and full of life since the disaster.  Fingers crossed.      

Edited March 21 by Norm B
Additions.

[Norm B]

I went out with the torch again this evening to see if the newts approved of the new reeds I'd cut for them and lo and behold we have yet another new female GCN , making at least 5 females, a record. I can't really count the males as they move around the pond, following the females, whereas the females can be counted when they stop to spawn on the reeds. At least with 2 young ones there is hope for the future as the older ones must be at least 10 years old by now as I brought them from my last pond along with a couple of males. Does anybody know of a daphnia supplier either local to Waterlooville or Portsmouth as although I can get them the price hasn't gone up but the amount per bag has got a lot less this year.

Edited March 26 by Norm B
spelling

[Norm B]

 More good news. The blackbirds have had a successful hatch. A young one flew into our patio door and stunned itself for a moment or two. I went out to check it out and it flew up onto the compost bin, so seems OK. Newt spawning seems to be slowing so I expect most will leave the pond at the next rainy night to search for food as there isn't enough for the large amount of adults as it's a new pond with not much natural food in it. If they stay and get hungry the hatched tadpoles will be dinner. Nature can be cruel.